Samantha | Māngere

“Maybe I haven’t been lonely. I am not lonely here because I’ve lived in Auckland all my life, so I I know people. So I don’t get lonely.

Sometimes people have moved next door to me that have come from somewhere else in New Zealand. So I just introduce myself to them, and you know, just try and be a friend to them, a friendly face, while they’re adjusting to a new area, I guess.

I’m a mother of six children. My husband’s Samoan. I was brought up very much Western culture way. So being around my husband’s side has opened me up to a more loving, caring, affectionate kind of environment, I guess. We live in Māngere and we choose to live in Māngere, because it’s quite Pacific-based. We like being around Pacific people, and things like that.

I’m raising my children to be quite family orientated, and that means that getting together quite often, regularly and usually over a meal, enjoying each other’s company, conversation, sharing things with each other, sharing with my friends, just sharing my, past and experiences with each other. It’s just more of a sharing kind of environment with them, really.”